Review: Regina Spektor at the Music Hall - KansasCity.com

The evening ended much like it began: with Regina Spektor on stage, issuing an austere rendition one of her many imaginative songs about love and all its consequences.

On Wednesday night, between those songs, joined by a three-piece band (cello, keyboards, drums), she kept a crowd of more than 2,500 inside the Music Hall in her charming thrall, exhibiting her esteemed talents as a composer, lyricist, singer and musician. Spektor, 32, is a classically trained pianist who began composing more popular forms of music in her late teens. Since 2001, she has released six albums, including ?What We Saw From the Cheap Seats,? released in May. She would play nine tracks from the deluxe edition of that album during a 95-minute set. Whether she was playing something new, like ?Patron Saint? or ?All the Rowboats,? or an old favorite, like ?On the Radio,? ?Dance Anthem of the ?80s? or ?Fidelity,? her audience rewarded her with gales of applause. Between songs, almost to the point of excess, they bombarded her with song requests and expressions of affection and support.For the most part, she let her music do the talking, though she did admit to eating, ?so much barbecue I can?t think.?She had to restart one song (?One?), and she paused for several seconds during another (?Samson?) because she couldn?t remember the lyrics; otherwise she delivered a polished performance that was filled with clever lyrical odysseys and rapturous musical escapades.Her brightest gift is her knack for writing pop melodies with inventive twists. Most of her songs invite sing-alongs, but first they take some getting used to. One of those is ?Small Town Moon,? a lovely piano ballad with a sunny melody that belies some of the gray-day lyrics: ?There?s a small town in my mind / How can I leave without hurting everyone that made me??That was a ?Cheap Seats? song that provoked a warm reaction; so did ?Don?t Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas),? a song with an irresistible melody and lyrics that showcase her fetish for abstract wordplay. The cello lead on that song was stellar. Other highlights: ?Firewood,? the prettiest song on ?Cheap Seats,? and ?Sailor Song.?She played a few songs solo, at the piano, including ?The Prayer of Francois Villon.? She sang the opener, ?Ain?t No Cover,? acapella, tapping on her microphone occasionally for some percussion. ?Call Them Brothers? was performed as a guitar duet with her husband, Jack Dishel, who opened the show as Only Son.She ended her four-song encore with a song that had been requested several times, ?Samson? ? the hymn whose lyrics she forgot. She was alone at the piano for that one, too, rendering another bittersweet tale of love come and gone to a crowd that hung on each word, down to the evening?s final line: ?You are my sweetest downfall / I loved you first.? Setlist: Ain?t No Cover; The Calculation; On the Radio; Small Town Moon; Ode to Divorce; Patron Saint; How; All the Rowboats; Blue Lips; The Prayer of Francois Villon; Call Them Brothers; Dance Anthem of the ?80s; Better; Don?t Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas); Firewood; Oh Marcello; Ballad of a Politician; Sailor Song; Open; The Party. Encore: Us; Fidelity; Hotel Song; Samson.

Source: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/11/08/3906448/review-regina-spektor-at-the-music.html

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